


Feral

by irish_trash_cash



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: And I hope you all cry as hard as I did, F/M, Otherwise it'll be horribly embarassing, this brought me to tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 12:08:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10020149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irish_trash_cash/pseuds/irish_trash_cash
Summary: Their love was platonic in a sense- the love of philosophers and two souls sharing a secret. Their love was not defined by skin. It was defined by distance- by partings. Their love was not light nor darkness- for it had habitually shown itself to be its own creature, feral and hungry. Incredibly tender.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna tell you right now you'll probably need tissues.

“You feeling tired already, Hancock?” Nora asked with a laugh, wiping the sweat from her brow as she made it to the top of a sizable pile of rubble, pulling out a salvaged telescope and scouting down the street. Her irradiated companion lagged slightly behind, wheezing as he pulled himself up to stand next to her.

“Come on Nor, it’ll take a lot more than a beautiful woman and a pile of scrap to tire me out.” he replied with a grin. Nora smiled as she jumped to the roof of a nearby bus, crouching down and preparing her rifle stand. She then laid herself down on the hot metal and peered through her scope. Their target was a pack of ferals- only two dozen or so, but enough that Diamond City Security had put out a bounty for whoever could get them out of the way. Nora and Hancock were more than happy to oblige, especially if it meant they’d get a purse full of caps.

“Here, lemme help out some.” Hancock chided, sitting himself down beside her and letting his legs dangle over the edge of the bus’ roof. Nora watched from the corner of her eye as he took of his hat and began to fan her with it, providing a nice tobacco-scented breeze as she lie roasting in the sunlight. 

She smiled to herself again as Hancock kept his eyes on her, watching intently as she pulled the rifle stock tight into her shoulder.  _ Inhale, finger on the trigger, exhale, pull. _ She went over the mental list Nate told her when he first taught her how to fire a gun. It felt like ages ago- and as she pulled the trigger, Nora remembered it really had been.

The first feral went down as soon as the nearly-silent  _ crack _ of the bullet whizzed out of the chamber. Nora stayed concentrated as Hancock looked toward the group of confused ferals, looking around for the source of the bullet. 

“Nice shot.” Hancock whispered, continuing to fan Nora and using his opposite hand to give her a light pat on the ass. Nora’s face was starting to hurt as she smiled and hit the next ghoul right in the forehead. With her fourth kill, the ferals seemed to figure out their location, and soon started scrambling over trash and debris as they made their way down the street.

Nora stood up as the first few approached, throwing her rifle over her back and pulling her pistol from the holster on her hip. One. Two. Three. She took down the first ones with ease, soon taking a moment to reload while Hancock jumped down from the bus and went at two that had strayed too close. 

Nora continued to fire into the growing mass of ferals, keeping an ever-watchful eye on Hancock- a streak of red and blue to her right, cutting throats and firing an occasional round whenever she missed. However, soon a maimed feral managed to get a hold of his coat and pull him to the ground. Nora whipped her head to the side as Hancock let out a yelp and a sarcastic jest as he fell to the ground, and she decided it was time to quit fucking around and actually get shit done.

Holstering her pistol, Nora reached over to her discarded backpack and readied her automatic rifle, pulling out the stock and tossing a molotov into the flooded street below her before jumping down. What ghouls came toward her were soon stopped by the fiery wall between them, and Nora took the opportunity to open fire. Her geiger counter clicked frantically as she fired the spray of bullets a good four feet from the ground, mindful that Hancock was down there somewhere. It wasn’t long before the last dozen ferals were down for the count.

“Nice shootin’ sweetheart.” Came Hancock’s muffled compliment, letting out a shrill whistle as he sat upright, pushing the long-dead body of a ghoul off of his legs. Nora motioned tipping a nonexistent hat in his direction and walked over to help him up. 

“There must be some  _ crazy _ rads in this water.” Nora acknowledged, tapping the screen of her Pip-Boy before hitting the side when the counter only continued to click. She decided it was best to get the heck outta dodge and climbed halfway up the bus to retrieve her bag, soon dropping back down and making her way down the street. “Come on rice crispie, we’ve got a bounty to collect.” she shouted over her shoulder.

“Hey hold up a second.” Hancock said tiredly, and Nora spun around to face him, the smile soon disappearing from her face. Hancock had only walked a few feet from where the feral had dragged him down earlier, and he sported a nicely pained expression as he leaned against a dilapidated cruiser, one hand on his knee to keep himself steady.

“You alright, Hancock?” Nora inquired, raising an eyebrow and taking a step toward him. Hancock immediately looked up, holding out a hand to stop her and breathing heavily.

“I ain’t feelin’ too hot ‘sall..” he slurred, “You go on without me, I’ll catch up.”

Nora hesitated for a moment before nodding her head, holding tightly to the straps of her backpack as she sloshed through the flooded street. She made it a good block or two north before the water receded, and she took the opportunity to take a seat at an old restaurant’s patio table, pulling out a bottle of water and chugging down a handful of Rad-X while she waited.

The slightly torn canopy fixed above the patio provided a nice shade from the sun, and as the minutes passed, Nora removed her pack and laid her sniper on the table as she began cleaning it out and refiling the magazine. Almost an hour passed before she decided something must be up.

Leaning against the crumbling brick corner of the building, Nora scoped her rifle, feeling at ease as she pulled the stock into her shoulder and looked around where she’d departed from Hancock. It didn’t take long before she managed to locate the streak of his red coat, still next to the old cruiser, and she laughed to herself as she lowered her gun and began walking toward him.

“Hey Hancock, you done jerking around so we can head home?” Nora asked playfully, smiling as she waded through the murky water. She stopped when she was about 30 feet away, however, smile fading from her face. A soft crack rang out as Hancock twitched, neck snapping to the side as he turned to face her. 

Hancock… wasn’t Hancock anymore. He looked different He  _ behaved _ different. And Nora felt a catch in her throat as she slowly came to realize what happened. 

He took a few steps toward her, and Nora was embarrassed that she took twice as many steps back, holding tightly to her rifle as tears welled up in her eyes.

“ _ John..? _ ” Her voice cracked as a few stray tears rolled down her cheeks, the heat of the afternoon drying them almost instantly. Her hands shook as she slowly slung her rifle over her back, putting her hands in the air in an effort to show she wasn’t going to hurt him. “John,  _ please. _ ” 

But Nora’s pleading was to no avail. Nothing she could say would make him snap out of it, because there was nothing that  _ could _ make him snap out of it. Dozens of ghouls and people alike had tried in the past, but there was nothing anyone could do once they went feral.

Hancock made a disgusting, gurgling noise, low in his throat, body shaking slightly as he watched Nora’s every move. It happened in an instant- Nora was scared and there was nothing else she could do as Hancock bobbed back on his heels for a moment before springing toward her. 

Nora let out a choked sob as she un-holstered her pistol, firing a shot in his direction and missing entirely. Hancock swung in her direction, and Nora yelped as he tore open a gash in her arm, ripping the blue fabric of her Vault Suit. But the smell of her blood only seemed to egg him on, and Nora cowered in anguish as he managed to knock her back, looking to harm her further and managing to shove her head under water for a few seconds.

Nora resurfaced with a gasp, using all her strength to push Hancock off of her, scrambling to feel for her pistol in the clouded water. Feeling the cool touch of the grip, Nora pulled it out of the water and faster than she could process-  _ inhale, finger on the trigger, exhale, pull. _

Hancock let out a dying squeal as the bullet hit him in the hip, sending him to the ground. Nora immediately stood up, uncomfortably cold, despite the burning afternoon heat. She took a moment to watch Hancock writhe around in the water, gnashing his teeth and clawing at her. Without hesitation, Nora fired another round into his direction, looking away and letting out another sob as the ring of the shot rang out, dissipating until the street was quiet again.


End file.
